Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker Is Pushing To Take Over Schools

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (WUSA9) -- County Executive Rushern Baker is reiterating his plan to take over command of the schools and dramatically cut the power of the elected school board.

This is a big deal that will affect 123,000 students, many of them not getting the kind of support from their schools that they need.

Prince George's is the wealthiest predominantly African American county in the country and yet despite the wealth, many of its schools perform about as badly as any schools in the state on standardized tests.

The County Executive thinks if he takes over the schools and has the superintendent report directly to him, he can make the system work better for the students.

Chief Executive schools takeovers have failed to show dramatic improvements, including former Mayor Adrian Fenty's takeover in D.C.

But Baker expects the Maryland General Assembly will approve his plan in a bill that's working its way through the legislature right now.

Big question: what happens to the three finalists for superintendent that the current school board is considering right now.

Baker says he will look at them and try to determine if any of them are what he's looking for.